Plague Doctor

The crisp crowing of cocks broke the chaotic dream, and Guo Pengbin slowly woke up. What time is it now...

On the first night he just came back to the village, he didn't plan to sleep. At least he wouldn't sleep so deeply, just take a rest, because he had to pay attention to what was going on outside and browse the world's news online. He knew that now he could Not settled yet.

It was just a day of driving and he was really tired. He didn't know when he fell asleep, and then he fell asleep until now...

Guo Pengbin opened his eyes and saw the early morning sky outside the house. He was slightly startled, "Wife?" He looked around and saw that there was no one else in the yellow mud house. "Little tiger head? Cai Yatou?" Neither his wife nor the two children knew. Wherever they went, some unpacked luggage was quietly placed there.

He hurriedly got up from the wooden bed, not even turning off the fan that made an unpleasant sound, and ran outside the house. The anxiety in his heart quickly increased, and some messy and inexplicable horrific scenes were mixed with new things in the news video. The bloody scene of York was surging in his mind...Don't, don't let anything happen...

After rushing out of the yellow mud house, Guo Pengbin looked around, but he still couldn't see anyone. What's going on...

He rushed to another yellow mud house next to him. The door was not closed. He looked inside and saw no one. He ran towards the end of the village again, shouting: "Wife, wife!?"

At this time, before he went completely crazy, he suddenly saw his wife walking back from that road with their two jumping children.

"Ah..." Guo Pengbin almost collapsed to the ground. His heart was still uncomfortable and he couldn't relax for a while. He walked up and asked urgently: "Where have you been?"

"Uncle Quan asked us to have breakfast." Yu Qi was a little surprised, but she immediately understood her husband's worries and explained: "Now Uncle Quan will take your mother and my parents to the fields to see. Here are some We have eaten all the hard-boiled eggs we brought you.”

"Why don't you wake me up!" Guo Pengbin was really annoyed. Only then did he notice that she was holding a bag of eggs in her hand, which were all domestic chicken eggs.

"I screamed, but I couldn't wake up." Yu Qi was really helpless, "No matter how I screamed, you still said that you would sleep a little longer, sleep a little longer... I saw you were so tired, so I let you continue sleeping. You Don't be surprised, nothing happened."

Guo Pengbin took a deep breath, nodded, and followed them back to the house. He hadn't brushed his teeth or washed his face yet.

"Daddy, daddy," the little tiger head yelled, "can we also raise a few chickens to lay eggs?"

"Okay!" Cai Yatou was also looking forward to it, "Add it! There are also dogs!"

"Yes, Dad, let's get a dog." Little Hutou begged again, "Grandpa Hong's mother dog just gave birth to a litter of puppies. Let's adopt one and raise it. Mom agreed, okay? Okay?" Cai Yatou nodded again and again, "I want to raise a dog."

Guo Pengbin glanced at his wife and saw her nodding. In fact, he understood her intention, "Okay, I'll keep them all."

Now that he has moved back to the village and will live here for at least a year and a half or even longer, it would be good to raise some chickens, ducks and dogs. His mother can take care of those chickens and ducks. Raising a dog can not only guard the door as a warning, but also You can make pets for two children and accompany them to integrate into this rural environment.

Sure enough, when they heard that he agreed, the two children immediately cheered and shouted excitedly that they wanted to kiss their father.

Guo Pengbin knelt down and leaned over, and was kissed by his son and daughter on each cheek. He also laughed happily. Looking at the smiles on the faces of the two children and watching them dancing, the warmth in his heart became even greater. It was worth it, it was worth it. of……

"You haven't gone to wash your face and brush your teeth yet." Yu Qi said with a smile. The dark circles under her eyes showed that she had not slept well last night, but compared to yesterday's sad look, she seemed to have more energy to cheer up, "I still have a lot of fun today. I’m very busy, I have to clean inside and outside the house, check the electrical wiring, clean the stove, there are so many things to do.”

"Yes." Guo Pengbin knew that his wife was working hard. As a mother of two children, she was not a fragile person, and her enthusiasm also gave him more energy, so he didn't say anything more and hurried away. I brushed my teeth and washed my face, ate a few eggs, rolled up my sleeves and started working.

Not long after, the three old men came back, brought back some farm tools, and joined in the cleaning.

The weeds in the yard outside the house were first cut with a sickle, then the ground was leveled with a hoe, and the water tanks, firewood, etc. were rearranged; the cobwebs and dust in the house had to be completely cleared, and several uncles came to help again. I brought two new light pipes to help them replace them, so that the house would be brightly lit at night.

From this early morning, everyone was busy until noon. Everyone went to Uncle Quan's house to have dinner. Sister Quan prepared a big pot of rice.

The people living in the village are all middle-aged and elderly people, and they all know each other. Whenever the neighbors see a group of them, they will join in the fun and ask why they came back to live. Guo Pengbin showed enthusiasm and courtesy. He had already told his family members to do the same and to maintain good relations with neighbors when living in the village.

After lunch, although Guo Pengbin didn't want to go out, he did need to buy some things in order to improve the living environment of the house. He took Uncle Bo, who knew a little about water and electricity, to drive to the town and try his best to buy as much as possible as quickly as possible. After buying all the things, I rushed back to the village. I was frightened all the way, but luckily nothing happened.

When I returned to the village, I met another family driving back to the village, also carrying large and small bags.

Because it was daytime, several villagers gathered around to watch. Uncle Bo was there. When Guo Pengbin got off the car and asked, he found out that it was Uncle Delin's son who had also moved back to live.

"Rong Qin?" Guo Pengbin took a look and saw that Uncle Delin's son was not his elementary school classmate. When he looked at the middle-aged man, it turned out that

He recognized it, "Li Rongqin!"

He and Li Rongqin played very well for a while when they were young, but their relationship gradually faded after they entered junior high school. We really haven’t had many gatherings in more than ten years. We saw each other last time when we came back to worship our ancestors during the Qingming Festival, so we recognized each other. After all, everyone has changed a lot from how they were when we were children and teenagers.

"It's been a long time." He walked up and sighed with a smile, feeling more stable in his heart, as if he was floating in the river with a piece of wood and caught more boards.

"Guo Pengbin!" Li Rongqin also recognized him, and his smile was also complicated and unspeakable, "Are you back too?"

"Yeah, come back and stay..." Guo Pengbin nodded heavily and patted the other party's shoulder. Li Rongqin patted him too. At this moment, the two of them had the same feeling.

Then, Li Rongqin introduced his wife and children, including his son Xuanxuan, who is five years old this year and is a little afraid of strangers. When asked to call someone, he hugged his mother's legs and shyly refused to speak. Guo Pengbin asked them not to force their children, and sincerely said that it was better now, and little Hutou and Cai Yatou would have playmates.

Li Rongqin's parents were still alive and waiting nearby to greet him. His parents-in-law also came with them, so the family was also very busy.

So after the two men chatted for a few words here in the village, they went to work on each other and spent a lot of time together in the future.

Guo Pengbin returned to his yellow mud house with the things he bought and sent back the news. Yu Qi was immediately relieved. The two children were already looking forward to the playmate. Yu Qi said that they would be busy tomorrow. Visit again.

That evening, before dinner, Uncle Quan came over and asked Guo Pengbin to look at the fields. I've been back for a day and it's time to go take a look, Uncle Quan said.

There are many fields around the village settlement. Since these old people are still cultivating, the fields have not been cleared. In this summer, the fields planted with rice are about to be harvested. Everywhere is golden. When the wind blows, , as if with the fragrance of rice.

"Uncle Quan, when will these fields be harvested?"

Guo Pengbin followed Uncle Quan to the dirt road beside the field. He was familiar with but not familiar with farm work. In the past, his father did all the farm work at home. Even if he participated in it, he would help as much as his father told him. He didn't know much. .

"It'll be ready in a few days." Uncle Quan looked at the grown rice fields with a soft light in his eyes, "The crops are ripe this year."

"Then I will help you cut it together." Guo Pengbin added, "I have to find something serious to do here."

At this time, he looked far away and saw Li Rongqin walking in the fields with his father, Uncle Delin. Seeing that the other party also noticed him, he waved and said hello.

I guess Li Rongqin thought the same way. When he came back to live in the village, he would live in a down-to-earth manner.

"Peng Bin." Uncle Quan said his plan as he walked, his dark face was very serious, "Listen to me, I have told your mother. These acres of land were originally your father's. He You left early and ended up with me, plowing my own acres together. Now that you have come back to live in the village and want to find some work in the fields, I will give these acres back to you. These acres of grain have been harvested It’s not even worth a few bucks. I’ve heard you say that the situation outside is not good, and I’ve read some news. What I mean is that we shouldn’t sell these grains yet. We might not be able to buy food when we have money. I was hungry before. However, I know how uncomfortable it is to be hungry. Furthermore, in our great-grandfather’s time, it was common to sell children and daughters to landlords for a bag of grain, so I said I won’t sell these grains and let’s save them all. I’ll try Call your cousins ​​and the others back. This field can be planted again this year, and when it is harvested, we will see if we should sell some of it. What do you think?"

"Okay, okay..." Guo Pengbin nodded repeatedly after hearing what Uncle Quan said. He was both moved and agreed with what Uncle Quan said. This old farmer who has faced the loess for most of his life has a unique consideration for the changes in the world, "Just follow Quan's words." Uncle, you said, don’t sell the millet, keep it all... We will farm these fields together..."

"If you are willing to plow, there will be plenty of land for you." Uncle Quan pointed to the surroundings, "But plowing is very hard."

"Hard work is not a problem." Guo Pengbin smiled and looked at the golden rice fields. "As long as the family can be safe and not hungry, there is no need to work hard...Uncle Quan, I now understand why my dad used to I am always reluctant to let go of these fields..."

He didn't know if the disaster outside would suddenly spread to the village one day, but looking at the rice fields in front of him, he felt a sense of real hope in his heart.

With these rice fields and this land, we can survive.

Love the Plague Doctor.